A deadly chemical being added to heroin has left 19 dead in one Michigan county alone.

Drug user taking in heroin with syringe
Burlingham, ThinkStock
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The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is confirming 19 deaths in Wayne County since July that could be linked to carfentanil-laced heroin.

Carfentanil is the most potent commercial opiod in the world. Often used as a sedative for large zoo animals, it is strong enough that a dose the size of a grain of salt can be lethal.

Opioid and heroin use alone can be fatal. With the introduction of carfentanil to the drug supply, the risks of use are even greater.

-Dr. Eden Wells, chief medical executive with the MDHHS.

Mixed with heroin, and sometimes sold in pill form, carfentanil puts Michigan residents at great risk of accidental overdose and death due to the extreme potency of the drug. The onset of adverse health effects – disorientation, coughing, sedation, respiratory distress or cardiac arrest, and death – occur within minutes of exposure. The drug is 10,000 times stronger than morphine and 100 times more potent than fentanyl, according to the National Institutes for Health. The use of carfentanil has been linked to multiple overdose deaths in Ohio- you can read more about that and carfentanil in a recent Rolling Stone article.

MDHHS is urging all hospitals, local health departments, emergency medical services agencies, and first responders to be alert for patients with suspected heroin overdose who do not respond to naloxone in the usual way. They should treat unknown chemicals and substances with extreme caution and call the Michigan Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222 with questions. If you or someone you know suspects an overdose, call 911 immediately.

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